


Such a Twisted Legacy

by Ruby_Silverstar



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: All the sad, Angst and Feels, Baby Moonlark, Cassius Sencen's A+ Parenting, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Disabled Character, F/M, For Most People, Gisela Sencen's A+ Parenting, How Do I Tag, I cried writing the end, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm so glad that's a tag, I'm sorry Keefe, The Sencen Legacy, Weddings, What Have I Done, after I got over wanting to throw Legacy into traffic this is what happened, as in the moonlark has a baby, entirely sarcastic of course, happy endings, i'm also so glad that is a tag., this is 66000 words of spite, very sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-23 19:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30060726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruby_Silverstar/pseuds/Ruby_Silverstar
Summary: When Keefe won't wake up after the events of Legacy, Sophie, with the help of the Council, resorts to drastic measures and comes to regret it.Canon compliant through Legacy. AU as of the release of Unlocked.
Relationships: Dex Dizznee/Biana Vacker, Sophie Foster/Fitz Vacker, Tam Song/Glimmer (implied)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I'm baaaack!
> 
> I know I said I'd never post on here again, but I'm bored and FFN is bothering me, so we're bringing it over here! It will be slightly different in parts to the FFN version because I've made several small edits since publishing it there last year.
> 
> This is a very sad book. I cried writing it, a bunch of people cried reading it. (what are you DOING Ru, let them read it and figure it out on their own) Alright, alright, if you want to know why it's sad, you'll have to read it.
> 
> Will be updated every Saturday. Feel free to roast me in the comments if I miss a day.

Sophie wiped her eyes again, not caring that the handkerchief was as soaked as her sleeves.

Four.

Freaking.

Thrice.

Blasted.

Months.

_Months._

And Keefe hadn’t moved. Not. Even. Blinked. Elwin said he was perfectly fine, just sleeping. Every Empath they’d consulted said his emotions were perfectly level, just sleeping. She and Fitz had poured their energy into searching his mind for anything, any hint of life, any reassurance that he really was just sleeping.

If it weren’t for the fact that she could see his chest rise and fall and feel his heartbeat every time she checked his pulse, she would have assumed he was dead.

The Council had told her they had one last option. They’d made it extremely clear that this could only be done once and there was no telling what would happen. This person they knew could either help Keefe, or she could raze the Lost Cities to the ground. There was no way of telling.

They knew it wasn’t soporodine or any other sedative. There was no reason for him to stay unconscious. So hopefully whoever the Council was going to contact woke up on the right side of the bed.

A gentle hand removed the soaked handkerchief from her hand and replaced it with a dry one.

“Hey Fitz.”

“Hey.” He rubbed her shoulder, silently asking permission to hug her. She stood, leaning into his embrace, but finding herself with no more tears left.

“Do you think this is going to work?”

“It has to. We’re out of options. If this doesn’t work, then…”

“Then we lose Keefe.”

He squeezed her tightly. “That isn’t going to happen.”

“Did the Council tell you if they wanted us there?”

“I think they’re coming here. They will want you downstairs though.”

“I guess.”

There was a light knock on the door and Linh called softly, “They’re here and waiting for you.”

Sophie took a deep breath and wiped her eyes again, glancing at Keefe’s still form. “I hate to leave him alone.”

Fitz pressed a kiss to her cheek that she barely felt. “I’ll stay with him.”

Sophie sighed, squeezing the fresh handkerchief in her hands. She followed Linh out to the vortinator in the hall. The gut-wrenching spinning no longer bothered her. She’d endured it far more times than she’d admit.

From her mother’s reaction, she looked horrible, but Sophie felt no inclination to change that. Whatever bedhead she had, she’d probably had worse.

Outside, all twelve Councillors were waiting, along with Alden, Della, Biana, Dex, Tam, and Lord Cassius.

“So how do we summon this person?” Her voice was hoarse and strange from disuse.

Councillor Emery cleared his throat. “We already have. If she wants to come, she’ll meet us here. If not, we have no way of making her come or contacting her again.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over them. Sophie was starting to think all hope was lost when a blaze of fire split the sky and a gold dragon, whose wingspan was easily over a hundred feet, launched itself through a flaming portal and landed with a huge blast of air in front of them. The woman on its back jumped off, flames flashing and sparking in the air around her.

“Councillor Emery, this had better be important!”


	2. Two

All of the Councillors went down on one knee and after a few seconds, everyone else followed suit. The woman appeared to sense the general melancholy air and the fire around her dissipated, allowing Sophie to see her more clearly.

Her long red hair that hung to her hips was swept behind gracefully pointed ears that extended farther than any Ancient’s Sophie had ever seen. She carried a quiver full of arrows on her back next to a bow. Her hand was on the sword in her belt. The armour she wore was understated and reminded Sophie of the Elves of Mirkwood. Her dragon did not appear to be aggressive, but most everyone was shooting it frightened glances.

“Well, maybe this is worth my time. Get your backsides out of the mud and tell me what I’m doing here.”

Everyone scrambled to stand. Emery went to explain, but the woman’s gaze snapped to Lord Cassius and she held up a finger to quiet the Councillor.

“It happened, didn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, but Emery nodded.

The strange woman’s piercing gaze found Sophie and her eyes narrowed. “You’re the Moonlark, eh?”

She nodded.

“Iltaurielle. Where’s the boy?”

“Keefe?”

“Is that his name? I never found out.”

Lord Cassius straightened and puffed out his chest. “I am Lord Cassius, Keefe’s father. I-”

“I know all about you, peacock.” Iltaurielle walked over to her dragon and left her weapons hanging on hooks on her saddle. “I don’t need the explanation. I’m here to help the kid. As soon as I’ve done that, I’ll be out of your probably fake blond hair.”

Her brusque manner left no room for any reply, so Sophie led her indoors to the vortinator. The Ancient took one look at it and said, “There’s no chance we could take the stairs, is there?”

Sophie shrugged. “He’s on floor 156, so you can if you want.”

“One hundred fifty-sixth floor, you say? I can get us up there easily enough.” She clenched her fist and raised it above her head. Sophie shot into the air and landed on the vortinator on floor 156. “Here we are. Which room?”

Sophie pointed.

“I see.”

Sophie knocked on the door and stepped inside. Fitz was twisting the damp handkerchief in his hands, staring at the floor. He looked up when they came inside.

“Is this the person who’s going to fix this?”

Iltaurielle looked at Keefe and her face became incredibly sad. Brusque manner gone, she whispered. “There is no fixing this.” She walked over to him gently grasping his wrist and examining the veins. “You should have called me as soon as it happened. I can wake him, but little more. I thought I had the key to undoing such horrific damage. But it won’t work on him.”

“What do you mean it won’t work?” Sophie’s long-numb emotions rose is a swell of anger. “What do you mean _it won’t work_?”

“I said I can wake him up. But I can’t heal him. Nothing short of the Almighty God coming down and cleansing this boy’s blood of the shadow will heal him! I know that isn’t what you wanted to hear, but that is the hard truth.” She tied her hair back, eyes haunted. “Do you want me to wake him?”

Sophie sagged against Fitz, trying not to cry as the reality of their dark situation struck her without a buffer. “Yes. I want Keefe back. I want him back, whatever it takes.”

Fitz held her tightly. “Whatever you need to do, do it.”

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shut out the strange, haunting language this Ancient elf was using. Her Polyglot sense was turning the words over, ripping them apart and yet they made no sense. Untranslatable. They were breaking her brain.

When Iltaurielle stopped, she set a hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “It is done. He will wake within the day. What I have done is irreversible. I will leave another single-use communicator. Use it wisely.”

Sophie nodded and returned to her post in the chair by Keefe’s bedside. He hadn’t changed, save for subtle lines on his face forming. She didn’t have the strength to send a telepathic call, but she found relief in the fact that she would have her friend back. Maybe she could start putting the pieces back together.

Others started filing into the room over the next hour. Lord Cassius apparently had important business. Councillor Oralie stood in the corner, citing the need for an Empath when he woke. Tam stayed in another corner, disturbed by the abnormal shadows and high concentration of them. Biana, Dex, and Linh sat cross-legged on the floor in a circle with Fitz and Della, cheating each other in a tense round of some elven card game. Marella sat on the arm of Sophie’s chair, keeping a small ball of Everblaze wrapped around one hand. The strange whispers of the yellow flame unsettled her, but Sophie knew Iltaurielle had given Marella information she didn’t have.

Dex threw down his cards in defeat and muttered something. Della sighed, setting hers down, and Linh collected the center pile of the wooden coins they were using to bet. Biana shot her a look, not helping the tense atmosphere.

Oralie kept glancing between the flames being shaped in Marella’s hand and the shadows forming weapons in Tam’s. She twisted her hands and tried to shrink back into her corner, out of sight.

A few hours later, Alden joined them and after exchanging cheerless greetings, he joined the circle and soon won back all of the bounty from Linh, supposedly through fair play.

It had been about five hours since the strange Ancient left when the first sign came. Sophie had been occasionally giving a shallow delve into Keefe’s mind whenever she felt the strength and will to risk disappointment again. She reached out and through the grey, felt a flicker of light. Like a small thing, naive, and young, taking its first steps into the world.

She quickly retreated, standing sharply.

Marella startled, nearly dropping the flame in her hand, but kept it from falling. Dex, catching the flash of light at the edge of his vision, dropped his cards and looked up. The others turned from their game. Tam stilled the shadowvapor in his hands.

“Did something happen?” Oralie murmured. She was now seated, but still tense.

“I felt something.” Sophie whispered. “His mind’s waking up. Slowly, but he’s coming back.”

There were small twitches and movement as the expression on his face changed slowly from one of utter peace to contorting in pure agony. Icy blue eyes flew open and with them bloomed Sophie’s hope.

And then all hope flew from the room as a horrible, piercing scream tore from Keefe’s lips. His back arched and he fell against his bed. Sophie reached out to calm him, but as soon as her finger touched his skin, he let out another agonized cry and threw himself away from her, which caused a third tortured wail.

When he could speak, the pain and fear in his voice made her sick.

“Sophie, it hurts, _it hurts_! Make it stop _, please,_ ** _make it stop_**!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, an awful cliffhanger two weeks in a row. I'll try not to be late again. I'm sorry I forgot this week.


End file.
